Friday, November 13, 2009

Knit 1, Purl 2

A few years ago, I was given a quick knitting lesson by the education coordinator (at the time) at JoAnn. I had wanted to learn, just never did. The lesson lasted, oh about 5 mins - if that. After that I would make a few scarves here and there, but not much. Last year I started to make a few more things. My big project was felted mittens, which I LOVED!



After these, I took a bit of a break. When I went to Colorado, I wanted to learn how to make socks and Heather was kind enough to show me.

I love knitting socks.




Amaya has 2 or 3 pairs.











I am still working on a full pair for me. I have made a few single ones, but I have never been happy with any, until this beauty came along. These socks are almost done -- well one at least. I made a few mistakes and had to rip out a few inches - yes inches. I took a break and made a few hats. I needed to feel like I completed something. Hopefully, I will have one compete sock done by the end of the weekend and the matching one soon after.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Yes, blog, I forgot about you again.

But here's the good news. A few weeks ago I looked at a Tumblr site that I had a few years ago. I kind of abandoned it. But looking back at it was so neat. It was a like opening an old diary. This made me realize that the blog isn't so much about other people reading it, but about a history and a diary of sorts. Years from now, hopefully this will still be around and I can look back at my digital diary and remember what happened. So, again, I will try to keep up with the blog perhaps not for the present time, but for my future self to look back and reflect on.

On that note...

FALL IS HERE! I love fall. Here's a little snapshot from this weekend apple picking at the Eplegaarden in Fitchburg.

Monday, May 11, 2009

What a crazy 2 weeks!!

Two weeks ago my son turned 9. 2 days later I left for Colorado and had a whirlwind trip out there. Yesterday my son competed in his first swim meet in the 9-10yr old division. Today it's quiet. It's been kind of crazy around here.

I can't believe my son is 9. It's doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it was. His birthday is always slightly bittersweet and the fact that he is so old now, brings back some difficult memories. A few days after he was born, a man I worked with lost his daughter in a car accident. A few days after that a friend of mine went into preterm labor and gave birth to her daughter at 22 weeks and subsequently lost her. Both of these people haven't had their children for 9 whole years. That always kind of stops me in my tracks.

On a bright note, look at this view I saw for the 1st time almost 2 weeks ago. It's just breath taking. It's hard to imagine seeing this almost every day and not being in awe of how amazing it is. I really enjoyed my few days out in Colorado. I definitely want to take the kids out there sometime. I know they would love it.

Finally the other big thing was my son's swim meet. He didn't do great, but that was to be expected. I am of course proud him him, no matter what. He was swimming twice the distances he was used to and doing a stroke that he could barely do 6 mos ago and now it's his strongest. The one thing he wasn't amused with was that I told him he was supposed to be born (my due date) May 19th, which would have had him still being 8 yesterday. He didn't laugh. See, if he was still in the 8 yr old division, he would have had all 1st, 2nd & 3rd places. Oops. Damn high blood pressure 9 years ago really messed with my sons swim meet. I should have known better, huh?

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Fly, Breast & Free, IM & Relay and Shaving Seconds

A year ago swimming was a foreign language to me. I grew up in Florida... as an ice skater. My son, here in Wisconsin, is a swimmer. I spend many weekends in the fall & winter at a pool. It's usually a balmy 80 degrees (which in Feb. it *is* balmy). The summer you will find us at various locations in Madison from Hawks Landing to Ridgewood & Shorewood. It is looking like this is my future for the next several years.

Last year, my son did swim lessons and that was it in terms of sports. Once a week, 30 mins a lesson. Now, I spend Tues, Wed & Thurs at the pool and if there's a meet, I work it. It's not bad and it's great to see him getting some positive self esteem.

Today was the last meet until the summer. Honestly, I need the break. I know he'll miss the meets, but out of the 10 or so meets he participated in, I think 7 were hosted by BAC which meant we had to work them. Today was the worst since I believe I have a sinus infection and my head was pretty darn close to exploding.

Today was a good day. The boy got 4th place in his backstroke (tied for 4th and 3rd was just .07 seconds away), 7th in 50Y free (out of 24 kids!), he improved his 50 y breast stroke by a lot!

The next big step will be summer teams. He will be 9 which will be a a huge difference. He's been competeing in 8 & under for the last 9 months. The 9-10 yr old division will be different. It will be faster and harder. The boy realizes this and doesn't expect to get 1st or 2nd or 3rd. He just doesn't want to be last, which I think won't be any problem at all.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

In Memoriam


This is not a post about a person that died, but a car that we lost.



On Saturday, January 31st, 2009, we said goodbye to the dear beloved, run down, green Jetta (Sequoia green if I remember correctly). She was a good car and only failed us once in Atlanta when the battery died after only a short time leaving us stranded at a restaurant. We got her before we were married so she was even at our wedding in Kennesaw. She drove me to MindSpring faithfully everyday in Atlanta. Green Jetta even made the trip to Wisconsin in luxury - being put on the moving van and not having to drive one of those pesky miles between here and there. However, after 11 1/2 years, it was finally time to say good bye. We didn't really want to. We didn't owe a thing on her, however, she was looking rough. The mirror was broken (and not something that could easily be replaced, it was imbeded in the body of the car), the muffler needed replacing, she was leaking collant - and those were just the things we knew of. It would have cost more to fix her than she was worth. So, after all those long years and experiences we said good bye.



Who would replace such a good faithful car??? Who else but another Jetta. Meet Red Jetta. Spicy Red, I beleive. Red Jetta is a 2004, so she's newer but not brand new. She's also a lot cleaner and has a clean bill of health. Will we keep red Jetta 11 1/2 years. Who knows. Perhaps if we take a little bit better care of her she will last 11 1/2 years!!

Oh, and look at this fun little fact. Our cars now match the house (which, no we did not paint green & red and still have yet to change it)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Butterfly

I guess my daughter is dreaming of Spring. My husband worked on this little art project with her. Vocals were done by her as well!

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Happy New Year!


I supposed one of my New Years Resolution should be to post more on here. I will try. Now that I have a computer of my very own (a new Mac Book!) I hope to do so. I wanted to start by wishing everyone a happy new year. I can't believe it's 2009. This year my son will be 9 and my daughter will be 6. My daughter will also complete her 1st year of Kindergarten. It seems odd that I don't have "little" kids any more, but it feels good. Happy New Year!!
 

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